2-Gun Western, February 1954 — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

44 Finally, he closed it. “Get off your horse,” Cameron said again. “I want to talk to you, Mike.” “What do you want to talk about?” Downey said at last. He had a whis- key-hoarsened voice. “Get down and I'll tell you.” Downey dismounted from the grul- la with obvious reluctance. There was a bit of apprehension in his eyes as he stared at Cameron. “What’s on your mind, Steve?” “How come you're working for Carey?” Downey spread his hands. “A job’s a job.” “What does Carey pay you?” “Regular wages.” Cameron’s voice was soft. do you earn them, Mike?” Downey’s mouth gaped a moment. Then he said, “I don’t get you.” “You're a good hand with a bottle, Mike,” said Cameron, “but that’s about all. You were never good for anything else. Why does Carey keep you on?” “How “You can’t talk to me like that,” Downey said indignantly. “T’ll talk to you any way I please,” said Cameron. “What do you do to earn your keep? Do you go around changing the Lazy F brand into a 442” Downey tried a scoffing laugh but it did not ring true. “Why would I want to do a thing like that?” “So that another man could be framed.” : “You're crazy, Steve! Tom Hol- brook did the brand changing. He was stealing Carey blind.” “T say you and Carey did the brand changing!” OWNEY was silent a while. His paunci. rose and fell as he breathed, the sound of it was an au- dible rasp in his throat. At last he said, “You're talking wild, Steve. Where is the sense in a thing like that? Even if what you say is true, where would the percentage be? Carey doesn’t get anything out of it even with Tom Holbrook in jail. _ There would have to be something in it for Carey before he did a crazy thing like that.” “There’s plenty in it for Carey,” 2-GUN WESTERN said Cameron. “He was always one to look far ahead. He’s probably got it figured that with Holbrook in the pen, he can start running off 44’s cows and in general make enough trouble for 44 that in a couple of years he can buy it cheap. Isn’t that what Carey’s got in mind?” Downey’s mouth gaped again and then he seemed to catch hold of him- self. A look of shrewdness entered his eyes. “How come you're talking this way, Steve? You don’t make sense. Why should you care what happens to Tom Holbrook? You should be glad he’s headed for the pen. Didn’t he marry your girl? Didn’t—” Cameron hit Downey then. He hit Downey on the mouth and the man went stumbling back to bring up hard and reeling against the grulla. The sudden impact startled the horse and it shied away and Downey fell to the ground. As he got up, Cameron hit him again. Downey cried out and turned half around with the force of the blow. He put his arms up over his face and placed his back to Cameron and cowered there. “T ain’t hitting back,” he said, his voice a hoarse, quivering moan. “I ain’t fighting back.” “I don’t expect you to fight back,” said Cameron. “I only want the truth from you. Are you giving it to me, Mike?” “You've already had the truth,” said Downey. Cameron grabbed Downey’s shoul- der and whirled the man around. Cameron drove his left fist deep in Downey’s paunch. Downey gapsed in pain and his arms dropped from in front of his face. Cameron hit him there and Downey fell. There was only rage in Cameron now. All the years of loneliness and humiliation and frustration had been building up to this moment of savage release. He had known so much hurt in the past that it now gave him a perverted, frightening pleasure to be dealing out some hurt himself. Downey made no attempt to rise. Cameron reached down and with both hands he pulled Downey to his feet and when Downey was there, EOPMIC LOOKS (E@)